<p>We just lost our “promotional” rate with the Comcast bundle, so have been exploring options to lower the bill. After a talk with an AT&T U-verse rep, I called Comcast and asked if they could meet AT&T’s offer. Sure – IF we sign a 2-year contract and agree to let them automatically debit our checking account for those 2 years (NO ONE gets access to our checking account except us, especially not THIS company whose customer service is so consistently and epically horrible). </p>
<p>What made me even madder is that the woman let slip that they’ve been billing us for premium movie channels for more than a year which we never ordered or requested, to the tune of $20/month. I suppose I should have caught this, but their bills are so confusing that I’ve long since given up trying to decipher them. I’m conviced that they do this on purpose.</p>
<p>This is only my latest go-round with Comcast, on a myriad of issues. I cannot think of a company that has worse customer service.</p>
<p>Did they offer to return or credit you the overcharge? When one was discovered on our bill they did credit our account for the entire months of overcharge. But yeah, all you said…ditto</p>
<p>I also got sick of being gouged by Comcast. We don’t have the bundle because I don’t want to lose our land line every time the cable goes out (which happens from time to time). I got disgusted by what we were paying, so I called them. They also offered me “deals” if i would let them automatically bill my credit card number. No way. Then I mentioned the almost constant barrage of mail/phone calls I was getting from Verizon to switch to FIOS. Almost immediately, the regular customer service person transferred me over to “account retention”. The person I dealt with was far more willing to offer me a promotional deal (about 30% less). These deals are usually good for 6 months. Sometimes the exact deals change, but I find they’re always willing to offer me something - just to prevent me from switching to FIOS. I just have to remember to call them after about 5 1/2 months to re-negotiate.</p>
<p>They are the worst. My parents have them. If they would have been my cable option here, I wouldn’t have cable. Period. You could call back and try to re-negotiate with another rep… and be nice. The nicer you are the more likely they are to help you. Account retention is a nice place to be transferred to… they almost always give you a good deal from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Hah - where I live they are the lesser of 2 evils vs Verizon FiOS. While the cable goes out sometimes and the internet is very slow Saturday morning, I at least get a live human when I call. Verizon = voice mail hell.</p>
<p>I think my blood pressure goes up just hearing the word “comcast.” </p>
<p>We had analog cable with them for 13 years and never experienced a single problem. Never had to call them once. Loved our analog cable service. </p>
<p>In April, 2010 they eliminated analog cable in our area and we had no choice but to switch to digital cable. Once we did that it was problem after problem after problem. It would work fine one day, not work at all the next day, come on and then die the day after that. They told us to unplug the box, wait about 10 minutes and then plug it back in. Sometimes that would work, sometimes not. We had them come out twice, replaced the boxes. Same problem. </p>
<p>After having service come to our house twice plus multiple phone calls and emails to customer service, we finally gave up in July, 2010 and switched to Direct TV. We’ve been very happy with our satellite dish so far. It didn’t even go out during the major ice storm we had a few months ago.</p>
<p>I feel like Big Brother monitors these threads. There is currently an Optimum banner on my page! (which is a bit of wasted $, as that’s Cablevision and since CATV is a monopoly, it’s not like I can choose them even if I want!) </p>
<p>Yesterday, there was an online prom dress retailer on the prom dress thread…a bit spooky!</p>
<p>We moved into a new house. Comcast laid cable…on top of the lawn. We called bi-weekly for six months. Nothing. Big orange cable remains. </p>
<p>Started calling weekly…‘yeah, yeah, we’ll be out to do that’. </p>
<p>Another 3 months passes. We call up. ‘They buried it yesterday’. “Then what the heck am I looking at?” “No, no, says right here, a crew came out and buried it.” “Then the world’s longest orange anaconda is living in my yard!”</p>
<p>Two days later, a crew with a supervisor shows up to bury our cable. Took 'em about 20 minutes…if you don’t count the nearly a year waiting for them to show up!</p>
<p>Not a fan of Comcast to say the least. I detest Fios for one simple reason: they showed up in my neck of he woods to lay their cables, dug up my front yard (promised that they’d fix everything like nothing ever happened - HA!!!), broke the neighbor’s sprinkler line so it now leaks onto my yard… And then they had the nerve to knock on our door every Saturday morning for a few months just to tell us that they now had the cable throughout our neighborhood - I am not blind, I could see the mess they made!!! I could live without TV, but DH can’t. Dishes are out of question, Verizon (or whatever they are called now) is a no-no, so we are stuck with Comcast… Grrrrr.</p>
<p>One thing to be careful of with AT&T is that they are in the process of limiting bandwidth use for DSL customers and charging. So, if you stream a lot of video on your computer, this could get wickedly expensive. Just a heads up.</p>
<p>"We had them come out twice, replaced the boxes. Same problem. "</p>
<p>Welcome to our world. At first they offered to exchange box at their storefront. Unit we received was not in a box, covered in dust, with cables wrapped around it. Took it home, plugged it in … no work. Called COMCAST service who “tested” the box over the line, and said our box was bad “so take it to the office and exchange it.” Uh, no. Scheduled an appointment. Service called to say they’d be two hours late … and called again later to say they couldn’t come “because there are no parking spaces on your street.” Monopolies are great, aren’t they???</p>
<p>Every time I read this kind of thread, I am happy that I shelled out $40 for the converter box that the rabbit ears plug into. No cable TV of any kind at our house.</p>
<p>Long time Comcast customer here. Sometimes the first call goes OK. But I have always found that if I don’t like the answers I’m getting, I politely end the call and redial. The range in quality of their customer service personnel is amazing. </p>
<p>FWIW, we recently had FIOS come back throught the neighborhood offering the world. I called Comcast and they matched it immediately. Like I said, the lottery of who picks up the phone is everything.</p>
<p>FiOS comes to the door for his pitch a while back bragging how great & reliable their service is.<br>
Me (calmly): Is it as good as my wireline phone?
FiOS: Absolutely/
Me (deadpanned): That’s too bad, as our landline has been out for 2+ weeks and Verizon can’t figure out what’s wrong. </p>
<p>My neighbors that have switched hate the customer service. I’m happy to see them switch, as it speeds up my Comcast.</p>
<p>How do you know this - did they send something out or did you read it somewhere? BTW Are you talking about UVerse or just DSL?</p>
<p>If someone started broadcasting something like CNN over the air, I’d be ready to drop Comcast. They charge an awful lot. And you should see the nest of cables in my yard - they (or their subs) bury the thing 2 inches deep or just let them set on roots, and they float to the surface, they get cut, they lay more lines…</p>
<p>I so detest Comcast it’s difficult to even put it into words. That said, we haven’t made the switch because I’m equally afraid to “start over” with another provider. I can’t talk H into Direct or any satellite tv and it’s hard to believe ATT U-verse could have better tv service without the cabling. Without a doubt, I’m uninformed but detest having to deal with this almost as much as I hate Comcast. The thing is, every time I call them, they’re very nice to me, but things take multiple calls to actually get fixed. Plus my bill changes all the time, without my doing anything. I HATE HATE HATE them.</p>
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